


Haven

by pterawaters



Series: Mr. Sandman [18]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Anniversary, Byers Family Has Powers (Stranger Things), F/F, Family, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, Polyamory, Psychic Abilities, Secrets, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26181157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: Robin and Charlie are coming up on a significant milestone in their relationship, while Steve and Nancy find out Jonathan's been keeping a secret. Jenny makes a new friend at school, and, after a misunderstanding, Jake becomes closer friends with Will.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley/Original Female Character(s), Will Byers & Original Male Character(s)
Series: Mr. Sandman [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527764
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This series is alive!!
> 
> In the time since the last update, I wrote a Stoncy season 1 AU, I've been hanging out/writing RP stuff on [this Stoncy Discord server](https://discord.gg/S3TAerk), and I've been working on a bunch of original fiction!
> 
> For those of you who are new here, this is the latest work in a long series. To understand what's going on, I really suggest starting either [at the beginning](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21186206) or at part 8, [Sleepwalker](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21583837).
> 
> ***Trigger Warnings*** for off-screen child sexual abuse, and also for vomiting and smoking.

**_October 1988_ **

Jenny yelled, "Bye, I'm going to school," in the direction of her parents' room, and waited for a faint, "Bye, Honey," from her mom before leaving the house. She skipped down to the bus stop, enjoying the way the pigtails her sister helped her with earlier that morning bounced against her shoulders. 

She made it to the bus stop three houses down just before the bus pulled up. “Hi!” she said to the neighbor kids, grinning when Maria Griffin held out her arms for a hug. Jenny loved hugging her friends, so much! 

The bus ride to school was spent listening to Maria tell her about the movie she'd watched the night before. Her parents had rented it from the video store, and let her stay up late on a school night to watch it. Jenny tried not to remember the movie with Maria, but it was so difficult not to, when Maria was leaning against her arm and thinking those memories _so loudly_. 

After getting to school and putting her things in her cubby, Jenny noticed there was a new desk in the classroom. Pointing to it, Jenny leaned toward Maria and asked, “Why is that there?”

“Probably a new student,” Maria said with a shrug. 

_A new student_! 

Jenny bit her lip so her excitement wouldn’t boil over and make her fall out of her chair. There hadn’t been any new students in their class since _Jenny_ had joined at the beginning of the year before! And now, someone else new was coming! Jenny wouldn’t be the newest student anymore. 

Maybe she could help show them where everything was, so they wouldn’t be so nervous. It had helped a lot when Laurie Mason had done that for her during her first few days of school. And Jenny was a whole year older now. She'd be really good at showing the new student around.

It wasn’t long after that Mrs. Jones said, “Class, we have a new student joining us today. His name is Adam Curtis, and I want you to make him feel welcome.”

Jenny let her hand shoot up into the air. When Mrs. Jones called on her, Jenny asked, “Can I be the one to show him around?”

Mrs. Jones smiled and said, "Sure. In fact…" She looked over her glasses at the room. "Michelle G.? Will you move your desk to where the empty one is right now? Bruce? David? Will you help Michelle swap the desks?"

When Jenny realized that this would put the empty desk next to hers, she couldn't help but wiggle in her chair with excitement. A knock at the door drew her attention just as Bruce and David were going back to their desks, and then the new student was there!

Mrs. Jones waved him closer and said, "Welcome to our classroom, Adam. These are your new classmates. Jenny," she said, gesturing to Jenny, who sat up proudly and waved, "has volunteered to help show you around. You may sit in the empty desk next to hers. Okay?"

The boy nodded, his eyes cast downward at the floor. He went to the desk next to Jenny's and sat down.

When Jenny whispered to him, "Hi!" and gave him a bright smile, Adam smiled back, just a little bit. But it was enough. Jenny grinned and tried to pay attention to Mrs. Jones' lesson.

When the bell for first recess rang, Jenny said to Adam, "Come on. I'll show you which door our class uses." She took his hand, and suddenly she was somewhere else. 

It was dark, and it smelled like cigarette smoke, and a man was yelling, "Be quiet! Be quiet or you'll make me hit you again!" A child cried, but his cries were muffled and Jenny realized it was Adam who was crying.

With a gasp, Jenny let go of Adam's hand and thought the word El had taught her to put up her mental shield. _Wall_.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked her, and Jenny realized he didn't know she'd just read his memories. He couldn't know.

Jenny nodded, feeling sick to her stomach. "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay," she told him, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Come on. Let's get our jackets from our cubbies."

~*~

Robin sat across the diner table from Steve, looking at the menu as she tried to decide what she wanted for lunch. She noticed Steve looking at her every couple of seconds, so she put her menu down and asked him, "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No," Steve said, nonchalantly looking at his menu, even though he should have known exactly what was on it. He and Nancy still ate here at least once a week.

Rolling her eyes, Robin pushed the menu down, and said, "Steve. Come on. What's going on?"

Steve shrugged and frowned, looking out the window as he said, "I dunno. Just, it's October…"

"Yeah," Robin replied, looking out the window. "Is this some sort of fall malaise? Is Junior year kicking your ass?"

"No!" Steve said, giving her an offended look. "No, it's not that. It's…" He shook his head and shrugged again. "You moved here a year ago."

Frowning, Robin supposed that was true. She didn't understand what the big deal was, though. "Yeah? So?"

Meeting her eyes for a long moment, Steve asked, "What else happened a year ago?"

Robin shrugged. "I don't know. I moved here, I slept on your guys' couch for a few weeks, I got my own place, I moved in, and…" _Oh, shit_. Robin's eyes went wide. "I started dating Charlie almost a year ago."

Biting his lower lip, Steve nodded. "You guys going to do anything special?"

"We haven't talked about it," Robin admitted. "I didn't even realize it was coming up. Holy shit! A whole year!"

Steve chuckled, like he thought she was naively adorable or some shit. Robin kicked him under the table. "Hey, it's not my fault. There's been a lot of shit going on this year."

"That's very true," Steve said with a bit of a sigh. "Still, it's a big deal. Making it to a year."

"What about _you_ ," Robin countered, kicking Steve a little under the table. "How long have you guys been together? A million years?"

Steve laughed at her exaggeration, scratching at his temple. "It'll be five years, in December."

"Five whole years?" Robin asked, waiting for Steve to nod again before she continued. "That's _forever_ in high school and college years. _That's_ a big deal."

With a small smile, Steve said, "Yeah, kinda."

The waiter came up to them then, interrupting the conversation for long enough to take their orders. 

Once he left, Robin asked, "So, what are you guys going to do? For the big five-year anniversary?"

Steve shrugged. “It’s kind of hard to plan anything, since we don’t know when Jonathan is going to be in town. But maybe a weekend thing. Go stay somewhere nice for a night or two.” He gestured over in Robin’s direction. “You have to plan something for your one year anniversary. Dinner or something.”

Robin thought about that. Charlie wasn’t exactly fond of anything too overtly romantic, given her tendency for cynicism. Plus, when they went out together, people usually thought they were platonic friends, not girlfriends. Dinner in some romantic restaurant gave a lot less of that plausible deniability. What if someone dangerous took offense? 

Then again, Robin was usually armed, and Charlie could throw things with her mind. Robin said to Steve, “Maybe a nice night in. With cake or something.”

“That’s good,” Steve said. “Know your audience.” He stacked a few jelly packets on top of one another. 

“Candles. Maybe some really nice take out? Ooh, or my mom has this recipe for this fancy chicken thing that’s so good!”

Steve nodded, not really looking at Robin. “Will you tell your mom who you’re making the recipe for?”

Robin sighed in response. “I’m just… not ready to tell them yet, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, shrugging and gesturing that he meant no offense. “But think about what happens when you and Charlie move in together. Are you going to be ‘roommates’ your whole adult lives?”

“If necessary, yes,” Robin told him. Leaning across the table, she put her hand over Steve’s. “There’s something I didn’t tell you.”

“You’re secretly a millionaire,” Steve said with a smirk.

“No!” Robin cried, pinching his hand until he pulled it away with a frown. “When I went home for those couple weeks over the summer? When Charlie was away? I got into a fight with my mom.”

Robin wasn’t quite sure she appreciated the concern on Steve’s face. “About what?”

“About all the…” Robin lowered her voice. “About AIDS. She said her pastor said it was a plague sent by god.”

“Shit,” Steve muttered, shaking his head. Robin knew that even though Steve hadn’t lost any friends to AIDS, his friend Leo had.

“Yeah,” Robin replied. “How am I supposed to tell her the truth now? Wouldn’t it be better to just let her think I’m single for the few days a year I see her, than to tell her and know for sure she can’t know who I am and keep loving me?”

Steve shrugged one shoulder. “I suppose we’re not really out to Nancy’s dad, for those sorts of reasons. And I’m only out in some places, but not at school. If that’ll make you happiest, you should do it. Losing a parent is… Well, it’s not easy.” Steve gave Robin a tiny smile.

Robin reached across the table and put her hand back on Steve’s. “It’s gonna be fine. Now, let’s brainstorm some gift ideas, because I have no freaking clue what to get Charlie. She doesn’t like _things_.”

Steve laughed softly. “Jonathan is horrible to shop for, too. Like, the worst.”

Robin laughed too, imagining trying to fit any sort of gift to Jonathan’s particular tastes – especially his taste in music. So far, Robin had found Jonathan’s opinions about acceptable music eclectic at best, seemingly random at worst. At least with Charlie there were certain genres she liked and ones she detested. And though she was picky when it came to TV and movies, she was likely to give just about any book you handed her a decent chance.

“You could get Charlie some jewelry,” Steve suggested. 

Robin winced. “Yeah, I don’t know. She hates real jewelry. She ties a string around her wrist and calls it a bracelet.”

“So, tie some string together,” Steve said, and while she was pretty sure he was being facetious, Robin also turned his suggestion into a great idea. 

“I was a Girl Scout,” she told Steve. “We learned how to make friendship bracelets at camp. I could make her one that says ‘C plus R.’ If it was the right colors, I’m sure she’d wear it.”

“Sounds kinda janky for an anniversary gift,” Steve said, taking a sip of the coffee the waiter brought him. He made a face and dumped in four creamers before taking another sip. “Maybe that and, like, a plant or flowers or something.”

“Huh,” Robin said to him. “I never would have thought of flowers.”

Grinning, Steve said, “That’s why I’m here. To point out the obvious.”

Robin laughed and threw a sugar packet at him. 

~*~

Of all the families Jake had stayed with since his mom kicked him out of the house two years prior, the Byers family was the weirdest. For one thing, the way Jim, the dad, got custody papers for Jake was unnervingly fast. Second, everyone in the family seemed to genuinely like each other, which was pretty rare, at least in Jake's experience. Oh, yeah, and most of them had supernatural abilities – especially the two kids closest to his age, Will and El. The twins.

The things they were capable of seemed limitless. They spoke to each other silently, they read people's minds and emotional states, they could make things float through the air. They could freaking teleport!

And yet, the family Jake found himself living with was so incredibly _normal_ it felt like whiplash every time someone used one of their abilities. By the end of his second week at East Springfield High, Jake finally felt like he was starting to get the hang of it there. He met Will and El near their lockers, saying, "Hey. Ready to get out of here for the weekend?"

"Yes," El said, with the biggest grin on her face. 

"What's with you?" Jake asked her, feeling himself grinning in response. "You win the lottery or something?"

"Mike's coming to visit," she said, practically skipping down the hallway on her way to talk to one of her friends.

"Oh, Mike," Jake said before asking Will, "That's her boyfriend, right?"

"Right," Will told him with a chuckle. "He's also my best friend from before we moved here." After a short pause, Will added, "Oh, and he's Nancy's brother, which also sort of makes him my brother-in-law…" Will shook his head and laughed again, like he knew how weird the situation was.

Just for the sake of conversation, Jake asked, "So, did you leave a girlfriend back in Hawkins, too?"

"No," Will said and the laugh he gave that time was awkward and kind of uncomfortable.

"Sorry," Jake said. "Didn't mean to open up old wounds or anything."

As they left the building, heading for the twins' car in the parking lot, Will said, "No, it's not your fault. I don't have a girlfriend." He squinted in the afternoon sun. "Don't really want one, to be honest."

Jake tripped over his feet a little, surprised that Will would just _admit_ that. And here at school, of all places! Sure, there wasn't anyone within earshot, but still…

Jake had only ever said it out loud to his mother, when he was fourteen, and look where that had gotten him. 

As they approached the car, El still catching up behind them, Jake asked Will, "Do your parents know? That you don't want to date girls?"

Will shrugged and nodded, unlocking the car and getting in. That's when Jake remembered that Will's brother, Jonathan, who Jake had yet to meet, was with Steve and Steve had no trouble going to Joyce and Jim for help when those mob guys were after them. So, Will's parents didn't mind that Jonathan was kind of gay, they woudn't mind that Will was gay. Or that Jake was gay.

As he got into the car, Jake gave Will an understanding smile. He got it. He understood how difficult it was to admit, especially to someone you'd only known for a few weeks.

Before El could arrive, Jake told Will, "I'm like that, too. I don't want to date girls either."

Will's brows jumped up in surprise, and he smiled slightly. "Really?"

"Yeah, totally," Jake said. If Steve and Leo could tell the people in their lives about being gay, so could Jake.

Later that night, after dinner, a station wagon pulled up, parking on the street in front of the house. El went through the living room like a shot, leaving the front door open in her wake. A tall, skinny guy got out of the driver's seat, and El jumped into his arms. 

Another guy, who had curly hair and a wide grin got out of the passenger side of the car. Jake was going to ask who this other guy was, but Will went out the door too, giving the curly-haired boy a long hug.

Well, Jake _had_ asked if Will had a girlfriend. He hadn't asked if he already had a boyfriend. Well, shit.

While the four of them were out there, hugging and talking excitedly, Jenny sat down on the couch next to Jake. She wasn't exactly as bubbly and excitable as Jake had found her to be over the past couple weeks. Jake wondered if it was because her older siblings had people visiting, if she thought they would have less time for her over the weekend.

Nudging her with his elbow, Jake asked her, "You okay?"

Jenny looked over at him and nodded, but then she shifted closer and hugged his arm. 

Concerned, and wondering if this was something he should hand off to Joyce, or even Jim, Jake asked, "What's wrong?"

She shrugged and said, "One of my friends is sad."

"Oh," he replied. On his second night staying in this house, Joyce had sat down with him for a talk, telling him about how it was to live in a house with other people with abilities. She had mentioned that all of her kids could get moody from time to time, picking up emotions from other people in their lives. Was that what was happening here? "Do you know why your friend is sad?"

Jenny shrugged again.

"Okay…" Jake was about to stand up and go find Joyce, but that's when the twins and their friends came back into the house.

"...try it, man," the curly-haired kid was saying, pulling what looked like a game cartridge out of his backpack. "I swear, it's so hard, even Max hasn't been able to beat the last level."

"No shit?" Will asked, bumping into the guy when he stopped short, noticing Jake sitting on the couch next to Jenny.

"Hello, new person," the stranger said, looking over at the twins and Mike before returning his gaze to Jake.

"That's Jake," El said, leaving Mike's side and crossing the room to pull Jake up by the hand and bring him over to the group. "Jake, this is Dustin, and that's Mike."

Frowning at Jake – well, at where El was holding onto Jake's hand – Mike asked, "What's he doing here?"

Will backhanded Mike in the shoulder. "Don't. Jake is staying with us. Mom and Dad are taking care of him."

"Oh, cool," the other kid, Dustin, said. He gave Jake a big smile and held out his hand. "Dustin Henderson. Good to meet you! Please, tell me you play video games."

Jake hadn't wanted to be friendly with Will's boyfriend, but he had such an infectious grin that Jake couldn't help but smile back at him. "Yeah, sure, I play video games. Who doesn't?"

"Guys," Will said, putting a hand on Jake's shoulder. "You won't believe how good he is at Mega Man."

Jake felt his face get hot. "It's.. I don't know, good reflexes or something."

"No, you have to show them how you beat Fire Man," Will insisted, leading the way toward the door down into the basement. "Come on!"

Jake glanced back to make sure Jenny would be okay with him joining the others in the basement, but she wasn't there anymore. He saw her come through the kitchen and head down the hallway toward her parents' room, so he decided she wasn't his responsibility. Plus, he really wanted to show off how good he was getting at Mega Man.

Before moving in with the Byers, Jake had only gotten to play video games a few times, out at the arcade when he had a few extra dollars, or that one time his Aunt Vanessa had taken him and given him ten bucks worth of quarters. Now he lived in a house with _two_ TVs and a Nintendo. He knew the Byers weren't wealthy. The house had a lot of bedrooms, but they were all small. The cars Joyce and Jim drove were modest, and the car the twins drove was an ugly, old station wagon. They weren't _poor_ by any means, but something about the way Will did his drawings on the back of old school papers, and the way Joyce sewed together and patched the clothes that wore through, and the way she washed out jars and plastic tubs, reusing them for all sorts of different things, told Jake that maybe they used to be.

Jake hadn't gotten the whole family history yet, but from what he'd been able to pick up here and there from conversations with the others, he knew that Jim wasn't really Will and El's dad. He also knew that Jenny had been adopted at least a year earlier, and that her birth mom lived kind of far away, but that she might be moving closer eventually. He thought that must be nice, having a mom who still wanted to acknowledge you existed.

As they reached the bottom of the basement stairs, Will asked Dustin, "So, how's it going with that girl you were going to ask out?"

Jake choked on the spit that was already in his mouth, covering it up with a nonchalant cough, and heading straight for the Nintendo controllers. Dustin liked girls? He asked out girls? He and Will weren't together? That's when Jake noticed, "Hey. What happened to El and Mike?"

Will and Dustin shared a look before both rolling their eyes. Will said, "They're making out or something. We probably won't see them until morning."

"Is he…?" Jake frowned. This couldn't be right, could it? "Is he staying in her room? _With_ her?"

Nodding, Will sat down on the carpet next to Jake and said, "He has before. After Mom let Jonathan's boyfriend move in with us when he was seventeen, she kind of lost any standing for keeping Mike out of El's room now that they're both seventeen."

"I wish my mom was that cool," Dustin said, shaking his head. "The only girl I've ever had sleep over at my house was Max, but that was when she and her mom were selling their house after her stepdad left."

"After we scared him away, you mean," Will said with a (frankly beautiful) grin. 

Dustin laughed, nudging Will with his shoulder. "Yeah!"

"You guys scared away someone's stepdad?" Jake asked them, listening to the story as he started up Mega Man and made his way through the level that led to Fire Man. As much as he liked the Byerses, and Will and El in particular, this was the strangest group of people he had ever met.

He kind of loved it.

~*~

Charlie got up to her third floor apartment a few minutes after midnight, cracking her neck and rolling back her shoulders before finding her key and getting the door unlocked. Like always, she double-checked for the presence of strange minds, a habit she'd picked up since she and Jonathan had been in France over the summer. Nope, no one there. 

Sighing with relief, Charlie opened the door and went in. It had been a long and boring night of patrol, looking for any remaining monsters that needed to be put down. She'd walked at least a couple miles in the last few hours, searching for anything that felt _wrong_. It had been a couple months since she'd found anything, the last being a nest back in August. On the one hand, she wanted to believe that she'd eliminated all the escaped demogorgons. In the back of her mind, she couldn't shake the feeling that they'd moved outside her patrol zone. 

She'd have Robin keep an ear out for any weird disappearances.

The light on her answering machine was blinking, so Charlie pressed the button and listened to the messages as she hung up her coat, untied her boots and pried them off, then went to the fridge, taking out a beer and popping the cap the easy way – with her mind, no bottle opener required. The first message on the machine was from the landlord, saying that maintenance needed to come by the day after next to fix the stove that had been on the fritz since the night before. The second message made Charlie almost choke on her beer.

"Hi, Charlotte," said a man's familiar voice. "I guess my mom talked to yours recently, and she told me you finally moved away from Logan. And to Chicago of all places. That's… that's really great." There was a long pause and Charlie thought maybe the machine had cut off Sean, but then he said, "Well, I'm calling now to tell you I'll be in Chicago next week. I thought it might be good to catch up a little. Maybe have some dinner. Just in case you lost my number, it's 323-555-1532. Give me a call when you can. I'm– I'm really glad you seem to be doing so well." He paused again, then said, "Talk to you soon." The machine beeped, signalling the end of the message.

Charlie stood in the middle of her apartment, unable to wrap her brain around what had just happened. Sean, her ex-husband Sean, was coming to Chicago. And he wanted to "catch up?" With _her_?

Chicago was her _new_ life. This was where she'd learned to control her abilities. This was where she'd found a family who accepted her for who she was.

The thought of seeing Sean again felt like it would be something like seeing a ghost. Charlie’s relationship with him was long dead and gone. She knew some people could break up and keep interacting with their ex, but she knew she was one of those people who couldn’t. Not when it was Sean who’d given up on her when all she could think about was being chased by monsters. He’d resented the fact that they had to move back home when she couldn’t handle the city. All that shit with the vision of Will being attacked and suddenly finding herself transported miles away? Sean hadn’t even _tried_ to support her through that. He’d told her to snap out of it, that he missed the person she used to be.

Charlie found out the hard way just how worthless wedding vows could be. Not that she’d been blameless. She’d been incapable of even _trying_ to be the person Sean wanted her to be. 

And now? After everything that had happened in the last year and a half? Charlie couldn’t imagine going back to the person she used to be. That angry and guilty all the time? Pushing everyone away before they could find out who she really was? That was a habit that had outstayed its usefulness, for sure.

Maybe she should see Sean, if only to show herself how much she didn’t need him anymore. But what if she saw him, and realized that she was still as silly and stupid and girlish as she had always felt while married to him? Charlie sure as fuck didn’t want _that_.

Nah, she didn't need to see him, and she didn't _want_ to see him, so she wasn't going to see him. And that was that. No matter how much shit it might get her from her parents the next time she saw them. 

Charlie realized she was peeling the label off her beer when there was a knock at the door. Charlie recognized Robin's mind just as she was opening the door, closing it again behind her. 

With a bright smile, Robin said, "Hey, do you know what I realized today?" as she came into the apartment, flopping down on Charlie's bed. "It's been almost a year since we started dating. We should celebrate, you know?"

Charlie froze. That couldn’t be right. She and Robin had been dating for a full year? _Holy shit_.

Feeling like it might slip through her fingers if she held it any longer, Charlie set her beer down on the counter. An icy chill creeping up her spine, Charlie realized that along with the one year anniversary, Robin probably had _expectations_.

Expectations like _living together_.

Just look at how she’d walked right into Charlie’s place with barely a knock. Like, yeah, she and Robin had exchanged keys a while ago, but that was mostly for emergencies. 

What if Robin wanted to move in together? What if Charlie completely lost any semblance of a space to call her own? That had happened when she and Sean got married and moved in together. He was always just _there_ , all the time. 

Charlie loved Robin, but the thought of her being _right there_ all the time, with no reprieve felt… suffocating. 

God, why couldn’t she breathe right? Where had all the air gone?

“Charlie?” Robin asked, looking at her from over on the bed. “Sweetie, are you okay? Did something happen?”

Charlie shook her head, but she couldn’t breathe well enough to formulate a response. Any sort of response would do, but the more concerned Robin looked, the more panicked Charlie felt. 

“Charlie?”

Robin standing up and taking a step toward her was the last straw. Charlie had to leave. She had to get out of here. There was no way she could give Robin the answers she was expecting. Not now. Not so _soon_. 

Feeling like a trapped animal, clawing and scrabbling at the edges of the box she was trapped in, Charlie found the escape hatch by pure instinct. Before she could consciously grasp what she was about to do, Charlie _pulled_ on her ability. 

The room she found herself in was dark, but familiar, and she sighed when she collapsed down onto the bed, laying back and putting her hands over her face. 

Jonathan noticed her presence in the room next to his right away. _What’s happening_?

_Just freaking out a little,_ Charlie said, groaning softly to herself. Robin was going to freak out when she didn’t come back right away. She’d think there was something serious going on, aside from Charlie’s general tendency toward emotional insanity. Since finding out about Jonathan and Nancy and her abilities, it had been easier to keep herself more-or-less on an even keel. Trust her to backslide at the worst possible moment. _Would you call my place and tell Robin I’ll be back in the morning?_

_Yeah,_ Jonathan said, and she heard him moving from the bedroom out into the living room.

Looking down at her feet, Charlie realized that she’d left her shoes in the apartment. Her jacket and extra power device were back there too. All she had with her were the clothes on her back and a guilty sense of regret for bailing on her girlfriend. 

After a couple minutes, Jonathan checked back in, wordlessly at first, until Charlie made it clear she was listening. _Need anything else_?

_Got any smokes_?

She heard Jonathan’s amusement, but he didn’t say, “no.” A minute later, there was a soft knock on the door. Charlie unlatched the door without getting up, just using her abilities to _pull_ on the doorknob. Jonathan came into the room, holding up a pack of cigarettes for a second before he came into the room and handed them to her, along with a lighter. He was wearing pajama pants, socks, and a UIC sweatshirt that Charlie figured was probably Steve’s. Jonathan wasn’t a school-pride sort of person.

_You didn’t get these from me_ , he said, crossing the room over to the widow, which he unlatched and pushed up. He climbed out onto the fire escape, sitting there, waiting for Charlie to join him. 

Why couldn’t Robin be more like that? Be more willing to wait for Charlie to come to her?

There was a chill in the autumn air coming through the window, so Charlie stole the comforter from the bed, wrapping it around her shoulders before following Jonathan outside. She sat down on the fire escape, her legs dangling over the side, next to Jonathan but not facing him. After lighting one of the cigarettes, Charlie stuck the lighter in the pack and handed them both to Jonathan.

It surprised her when he took the lighter back out and lit his own cigarette. When he saw the look she was giving him, Jonathan shrugged. _There are worse things_.

_True_ , she replied, taking another drag, letting the smoke settle the jittery feeling in her stomach. They sat together silently, for long enough that Charlie was almost done with her cigarette by the time she was ready to talk. 

“Sean called me,” she said, needing for this conversation to happen out loud. Sometimes the silent ones, though Charlie valued them, felt too much like they were all in her head. Like she’d imagined Jonathan speaking to her. 

Jonathan finished exhaling and asked, “Yeah?”

Again, he didn’t push. He invited Charlie to keep talking, but she felt free to take it or leave it as she needed. Sean had always demanded things of her. Or at least, he had before. Tonight’s call contained more of an invitation, than anything else. Of course, Charlie wasn’t his anymore. He didn’t have the right. 

Not that he ever had, as much as he liked to think he did.

Scratching a hand through her hair – shit, it was starting to get too long, like it had been before the divorce, when she cut it all off – Charlie sighed. “He’s coming to Chicago. Wants to meet up for lunch.”

Jonathan nodded. He took another drag, then asked, “Do you want to see him?”

“I really,” she let loose a sardonic chuckle, “ _really_ don’t.”

“So don’t,” Jonathan said. “You don’t owe him anything.”

Charlie nodded. She knew that. She knew the second he’d asked for a divorce that once things were over, they needed to _stay_ over. There’d been a good year or so in there, when Charlie thought she was happy. Before they tried to move to Portland, before November 6th, 1983, before the first disappearance, and then the second, and the sinking dread of suspecting she’d caused those people to lose their lives.

With an amused snort, Charlie said, “Yeah, but what if I showed Sean? What I can do now. Who I am?”

“Aside from the fit Owens would have if he found out you told a civilian?” Jonathan leaned closer and pushed at Charlie’s shoulder, making her chuckle and shake her head. “Remember Brussels?”

“I swear, that guy wasn’t normal,” Charlie said, rehashing the same argument they’d been having for the past two months. “I don’t know how else I could have missed him.”

“Maybe he wasn’t. There are more of us out there than I thought was possible.” Jonathan flicked the ash off the side of the fire escape. “If El hadn’t come into my life, I doubt I’d have figured out how to do any of this stuff on my own.”

Charlie shook her head. She’d heard the stories, about Joyce and Jonathan both being able to sense others across the barrier to the upside down, about Jonathan always being able to tell when his dad was lying. And then there was the big story, the one that Charlie got a sneak preview of back in 1983 – Will accidentally transporting himself to the upside down, to get away from the monster.

Most of that had happened before any of them met El. 

Charlie had known she wasn’t normal. She just didn’t understand until she met Jonathan that her strangeness wasn’t solely due to some character flaw, some mental weakness that was her fault because she wasn’t trying hard enough. She was still coming to grips with the fact that this ability she’d been born with didn’t care how hard she’d been trying. It laid all the emotions of the nearby people on top of her, threatening to bury her alive until she got out of the city, and yeah, started drinking more than was advisable. 

So after dealing with all that shit on her own for so long, having help with it felt almost like a godsend. She’d been so relieved by the lack of pain, and pressure, and stress that… well, she’d fucked up. She’d let someone in. She’d let herself believe the myth that she could be normal, and have someone who loved her, and hold onto that relationship for a whole year.

And now what?

Clearing her throat, Charlie admitted to Jonathan, “Sean and I were together for two years before we got married.” She scoffed at herself. “High school sweethearts. We only lasted… we lasted a little more than a year _after_ we got married.”

A flash of understanding coursed through Jonathan, and he wasn’t shielding well enough to hide it from her. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Charlie said. “Sean left that message about coming to visit, and then _Robin_ came asking what I wanted to do for our anniversary…”

Jonathan moved closer, off the stairs and next to Charlie on the fire escape landing. He put one of his arms around her shoulders and Charlie leaned closer into him. 

Pouting, she told Jonathan, “This shit is hard. How did you…?” Not knowing how she wanted to ask the question, Charlie trailed off. After a second, she tried again. “I mean, the way you and Steve and Nancy are together? You’re _solid_. I just don’t understand how to get to there from, from–” She cut herself off with a sad chuckle. “I’m still running away.”

Squeezing her tighter, Jonathan said in a soft voice, “You gotta stop _doing_ that.”

Chuckling again, Charlie said, “Yeah, I know.”

With a sigh, Jonathan said, “It takes work. And compassion. And compromise.” He leaned his temple against her head. “Being an empath helps. I do a lot of mediating. Still, there's things… I haven't told them I started smoking.”

Shrugging as Jonathan leaned away and took one last drag of his cigarette before stubbing out what was left of it, Charlie said, “Knowing what Robin is feeling and being able to figure out _why_ are two very different things.”

“I–” Jonathan started to say, before pulling his arm back and leaning on the railing, looking out over the dark alley. Charlie gave him a moment of silence, during which she caught a mix of anger and grief. “I learned because I had to,” he told her. “When I was a kid, before he left, my dad got into these _moods_. It was better if I could figure out what was wrong and fix it, even if that meant taking Will out into the woods and not coming back until Lonnie had passed out.”

“Jesus,” Charlie muttered, not having much of a frame of reference when it came to parental bullshit. Her parents – her _adoptive_ parents were older, calmer, more sedate and even-tempered than most anyone else she’d ever met. If something was wrong, they told her what, and why. She never _had_ to guess.

Though, Charlie realized, most of the time as a teenager, she’d made _them_ guess what was wrong with her. She still made Robin guess more often than not. 

“I hate him,” Charlie said about Lonnie, stubbing out her own cigarette and letting the butt fall into the alley below. “I only met him once, but I hate him. I hate the ways I’m like him.”

“Yeah, me too,” Jonathan said with another sigh.

Charlie scoffed with disbelief. She couldn’t imagine Jonathan pushing a little kid around. Not the way Lonnie had. Not the way that had left the scars Charlie could practically _see_ in Jonathan’s head. “You’re _nothing_ like him.”

“No, but I–” Jonathan said, his voice breaking a little. “I _am_. I’ve got the same bullshit anger, the same bullshit dependencies.” Jonathan took the package of cigarettes out of his pocket, waggling it a little in emphasis, before putting it back. “Whenever I meet someone new, I can’t help but catalog all the ways they probably suck.”

Charlie couldn’t help but laugh softly, setting her forehead down on her arm, it resting in turn on the railing. “Jesus,” she muttered. “Did I get _any_ of my personality from Nancy?”

With a chuckle that was more of a breath than anything else, Jonathan said, “You speak your mind, like she does. You’re bull-headed, too.”

“I am not!” Charlie cried, turning and shoving at Jonathan for good measure. “I run away from shit, all the time. Like _today_ ,” she gestured back toward her old bedroom for emphasis. “Remember? That flight instinct?”

Looking over at Charlie, Jonathan gave her a soft smile, the amusement rolling off of him as an almost palpable thing. 

Knitting her brows together, Charlie realized, “I’m doing it right now, aren’t I?”

Jonathan nodded.

“Shit.”

“C’mon, let’s go in,” he said, turning and climbing in the window. 

Charlie followed, and pulled him into a hug before he could get away. _Thanks_.

_You’re welcome_ , he replied, squeezing her once more before letting her go and leaving the room. Charlie heard him stop in the bathroom, brushing his teeth before he headed back to his room. 

Charlie closed the window and curled up on her old bed. It had different bedding than it had when she lived here, but the room still kind of felt the same. Or at least, the way it had before that demogorgon had tracked her down here. There were no more of them, at least in this part of the city. She was so sure of it, that the room didn’t feel as terrifying as before. It might have even felt...comfortable. 

She could tell that Nancy and Steve were both asleep, and Charlie felt it when Jonathan dropped off as well. They felt safe and at home here. Maybe this wasn’t Charlie’s home, not anymore, but it was safe enough that she closed her eyes and hoped the morning – and all the apologizing she knew she’d have to do – wouldn’t come around too quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

On Monday afternoon, since El had a study date with a friend, Jake had some extra tutoring time with one of his teachers to get caught up with the rest of the class, and his mom and dad were on a case, it fell to Will to meet Jenny at the bus home from school. Well, it was cold and kind of rainy, so Will waited for her inside the house, but next to the big picture window in the living room, so he could see the bus when it came by. Needing a break from schoolwork for a bit, Will sat with his sketchbook propped up against his leg. For the past month, he’d been trying to draw this one aspect of string theory that he really loved thinking about. The problem was that, although he could visualize it in his mind, compressing at _least_ eleven dimensions down into two seemed like a fool’s errand. 

And yet, here he was, trying to draw it anyway. He just felt like… if there were ways to draw a three dimensional object on the page, using foreshortening and shading and the like, there had to be some way to depict higher-order dimensions, too. He was halfway through wondering if he needed to make some sort of flip-book animation when he realized Jenny was getting close. 

Will closed his sketchbook and set it on the end table next to the couch. He went to the front door and opened it just as the school bus pulled up and stopped a few houses down, where the Clifford kids lived. 

Before Jenny got off the bus, Will started to get an uneasy feeling. The feeling doubled when he saw her slumped posture as she hopped down from the stairs and started walking up the sidewalk toward their house. Shoving his feet haphazardly back into his sneakers, Will hurried out of the house to meet her. 

Jenny saw him coming and started crying, her grief palpable and her arms outstretched toward him. Will met her and bent down, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. _What happened?_

_I can't tell you_ , she replied, squeezing him tight. 

Concerned, Will took Jenny by the hand and led her into the house. He had her sit down on the living room couch and looked her in the eye as he repeated as best he could one of the speeches his mother had given him when he was younger. "You can tell me anything. Even if someone told you not to tell. It doesn't count when it comes to your family, your siblings and your parents, okay? No one should ask you to keep secrets from us."

"No one did," Jenny told him, looking down at her lap. "But I accidentally read someone's mind again. Dad said if I did it on accident, I was supposed to try to forget what I knew. That it wouldn't be my secret to tell."

Will's heart hurt for her. She was just trying to do the right thing, he could tell. But the depth of her grief… It wasn't right for anyone to feel like this, much less someone her age. "He didn't mean something like this," Will insisted. "Please, will you tell me what it is? What you've seen?"

Jenny pressed her lips together and shook her head. "I can't…"

Will thought maybe the problem wasn't so much not wanting to tell as not being _able_ to. "Can you show me?"

Jenny appeared to consider this for a moment before she nodded her head. She took Will's hand and closed her eyes for a moment before pulling him into the Inbetween with her. Will found himself looking at a little boy. He was smaller than Jenny, but Will got the impression that he was about the same age as her. A classmate, he assumed.

He was crying. Will’s heart hurt again, and he thought maybe there had been a fight at school or something – he certainly remembered the bullying starting by third grade. Then someone else came into view, a man. He said, “Are you going to cooperate today, Adam?”

Tears running down his cheeks, the boy nodded his head grimly. Stepping closer, Will saw an old bruise on his cheek. And then he heard a zipper being pulled down. Horror and revulsion swept over Will as he realized what was about to happen, what the man was about to make the little boy do. 

Will pulled Jenny out of the Inbetween before scrambling over to the kitchen and losing what was left of his lunch into the kitchen sink. Shuddering, he ran the faucet, rinsing out first the sink, then his mouth. When he looked up, Jenny was at the entryway to the kitchen, sniffling and pushing tears away from her face. 

“That’s not supposed to happen, is it?” she asked, her voice wobbling.

“No, it’s not,” Will told her wiping away a few of his own tears. In the back of his mind, he reassured El that he and Jenny were physically okay. 

She said, _I’m coming home anyway_. 

Will sat down on the kitchen floor, telling Jenny, “That man needs to be arrested. He needs to go to jail for doing what he’s done.”

Jenny nodded. She came over and sat next to Will, putting her hand in his again. Her voice small, she leaned against him and asked, “Can you make it better? I don’t want to be so sad anymore.”

“Yeah,” he said, holding her closer and petting her hair. “Yeah, I can do that.”

The realization that he could influence the emotions of the people around him came to Will slowly. He only really recognized it after El had helped him get his True Sight – what Mike called his ability to see into the Upside Down – under control. When he no longer randomly got stuck in a vision of that other, parallel world, it was easier to feel the other ways he could use his abilities. The telekinesis was cool, but it always felt like he was just borrowing from El whenever he did it. Crossing the line between dimensions was something Will had only done once on his own, and it hadn’t been a conscious decision. 

But making people feel better? Less worried? Less stressed? It was like… like smudging the lines on a charcoal drawing. Will didn’t really _feel_ other people’s emotions. Not the way Jonathan did. But he could read them, especially if he was close enough to touch them. He could see the lines of their emotions and, if he wanted to, smooth and smudge them into different lines. Happier lines. 

Hugging Jenny, he did this for her now. He wished he could erase the memory from her brain, but if that was something that _could_ be done, Will didn’t know how. He did know how to breathe in time with Jenny, smudging the lines of her emotions until her breaths came easier and her heart wasn’t so heavy. 

“Thank you,” she said, still quiet and subdued. 

“Why don’t we,” Will said, moving Jenny out of his lap and helping her stand up, “watch some cartoons for awhile? Something fun?”

“Yes!” Jenny said, an enthusiastic grin on her face. She went back into the living room, turning on the TV and switching over to one of the broadcast channels that featured after school cartoons. 

Will sat down with her, kind of watching, but mostly thinking about what he was going to do about that little boy. Adam. There had to be something they could do, right? Something to make sure he was safe from that man. Except Will hadn’t heard the man’s name. He’d only seen his face.

Will was still trying to figure out what to do when a car pulled up outside. Will recognized it as belonging to El’s friend, Kim. A car door opened and shut, and a moment later, El came through the door. Will hadn’t realized how much he needed her until he was meeting her halfway across the room, wrapping his arms around her. 

“Hey!” said Jenny a second later, and when Will looked over to see what was the problem, she said, annoyed, “I can’t see the TV!”

“Sorry,” Will said, letting El take his hand and lead him from the room. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

_Okay_ , Jenny said, a touch of annoyance still in her mental voice. 

They ended up in Will’s room, El asking him, “What’s going on?” 

Will gave her the rundown of the problem, sitting down on his bed with a sigh. “I mean, how are we supposed to help that little kid? We can’t tell them how we know he’s being hurt. I’m not even sure we can tell anyone _who_ that man is.”

Hugging one leg to her chest and resting her chin on it, El shook her head a few times. Then she said, “Maybe Dad can figure out who he is? If you tell him what the man looked like.”

Suddenly struck by an idea, Will went over to his desk and pulled out his sketchbook and a pencil. “I can do better than just tell Dad what the man looks like. I can _show_ him.”

~*~

When Charlie got home after spending the night at Jonathan’s place, she wasn’t surprised to see that Robin was gone. She knew she needed to apologize, and soon, because literally disappearing into thin air was a stupid, dickhead sort of move. 

Robin had already given Charlie second and third and _fourth_ chances to get this whole relationship thing right. Eventually, Robin was going to grow a spine and the chances were going to run out. Hell, Charlie wouldn’t even be surprised if _this_ was the last straw. 

As she went and showered and started getting dressed for the day, Charlie had to fight the urge to follow that pessimistic voice in her head down the rabbit hole into which it seemed intent on sinking. Robin was never going to accept her apology. Robin was going to realize that she didn’t have to put up with Charlie going hot and cold on her all the time. Robin was going to realize that being with Charlie wasn’t worth the crazy that came along with her. 

Finally, as she got out of the shower and wiped the fog off the mirror, she looked at herself – sharp, angular face, damp, tangled hair, muddy-colored eyes – and told herself, “Get a fucking grip! Robin has stayed with you for almost a whole year. Just get over yourself and apologize!”

Charlie narrowed her eyes at her reflection, stomped down on the urge to be petty and contrary, and nodded. She was going to do this.

She got dressed – dressing for the weather, but also less… _intimidating_ than she usually went for. She didn’t want Robin to think she was there just to break up. As hard as it was being in a relationship, instead of being single, for Charlie, it was better this way. She was happier than she ever had been in her life, and Robin was a big part of that happiness. 

By the time she was done getting ready, Charlie could tell Robin was across town. Hmm. That meant having a car would be essential. Charlie normally got around using The L and her own two feet. Today she needed a little help. 

Making sure her charged power device was clipped on her belt, Charlie left her apartment. She locked the door and walked a few blocks until she was back at Jonathan’s place. He wasn’t there, but Steve was. 

“Hey, can I borrow your car for a couple hours?”

“Sure,” he said, setting his bowl of cereal down on the table, and then taking a ring of keys out of the pocket of one of the jackets in the coat closet. “Where you going?”

“I gotta go apologize to Robin for last night,” she admitted. 

Steve raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t pry. Instead, he took his keys out of his pocket and separated the car keys from the rest. “It’s parked just down the block, north of here.”

“Got it,” Charlie told him, taking the keys. Impulsively, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug.

Steve laughed softly, but he hugged her back tightly. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Charlie said, letting go of Steve and clapping him on the shoulder a few times. “I’m good. You gonna be here later? For the keys?”

Shaking his head, Steve said, “I’ve got class. You can just leave them on the counter or something.”

Yeah, that made sense. Charlie modded. “Right. Thanks. See ya.”

She caught Steve’s surge of affection as he waved goodbye. Yeah, freaking out over Sean was stupid. Charlie had a whole mess of friends and family now. She didn’t need to agonize over whether or not to see one guy who meant much less to her now than he used to.

She only hoped Robin took her apology well.

~*~

Jonathan was trying to finish the reading assignment before his lit class started, but he was cutting it kind of close. Especially since he'd been feeling jittery all day, unable to calm down. He'd been trying to taper off on smoking, but between school and Charlie and Steve and Nancy and not knowing when he would have to leave town again, he'd been giving himself one excuse after another.

He looked at his watch and breathed a little sigh of relief. He still had fifteen minutes, which was more breathing room than he'd thought. Jonathan would just finish off this cigarette and go sit in the lecture hall as he finished. Except, he'd been so distracted, he didn't notice Steve approaching him until he was right there, standing in front of Jonathan.

"What'cha doing?" Steve asked, nodding to the cigarette Jonathan was holding between two fingers.

"Shit," Jonathan replied, letting the smoke out of his lungs. He dropped the half-finished cigarette on the ground, stomping it out on his shoe. Wincing at Steve he asked, "Can we just pretend you didn't see that?"

"Not on your life," Steve replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why? And how come I didn't know about this? How long have you been _hiding_ this from me?"

With a sigh, Jonathan marked his place in his book and put it in his bag. Then he pushed his hair away from his face and met Steve's eyes. He could do this. Steve loved him.

"It's been a couple of weeks," he admitted, letting himself look away from Steve's disappointed eyes after a second. "Since New York."

"Aw, hell," Steve said, and then he had his arms wrapped around Jonathan. It was a better outcome than Jonathan had been fearing, that was for sure.

The hug wasn't like it would have been at home, Steve leaving some room between their stomachs, but Jonthan knew they were out in public. They had to be careful. 

Stepping back, but keeping his hand on Jonathan's shoulder, Steve said, "I knew it was bad, but it was _really bad_ , wasn't it?"

Still not quite able to look Steve in the eyes, Jonathan nodded. 

His voice soft, Steve asked, "Have you been drinking too?"

Jonathan shook his head, and got another hug, Steve sighing against his ear. 

"Good. That's good," Steve said, letting go of him again. "You'd tell me if you were, right?"

"Yeah," Jonathan assured him. Gesturing down at the cigarette butt on the ground, he said, "It doesn't dull my…" He pointed to his head, indicating his abilities. "But I feel less anxious."

Steve moved his hand toward Jonathan before lowering it again. "God, I wish we weren't out here where everyone can see," he muttered. "You have to tell Nancy."

"Ugh," Jonathan said, bending down and picking up the cigarette butt, making sure it was all the way out before throwing it in the trash can a few steps away. "Nancy's gonna make me quit. You know she is."

"Hey, she just wants you to be healthy," Steve said, following when Jonathan tilted his head and started walking toward his next class. "That's what I want too, Jonathan."

"Can't I–" Jonathan groaned in frustration, pushing the heels of his palms against his aching eyes. "Everything is just too much, okay? I can't bottle everything up all the time, either. I feel like it's either this, or–"

Jonathan cut himself off, but Steve got in front of him, stopping Jonathan with his hand on Jonathan's chest and asking him softly, "It's either this or what, sweetheart?"

Breathing for a moment, Jonathan thought through what he'd almost said. It would worry Steve, but Jonathan could tell Steve was already worried. Knowing him, he was probably worried over the worst things he could think of, probably much worse than Jonathan had intended to say. 

Giving in, Jonathan admitted, “It’s either this or drop out of school.”

Steve closed his eyes, but he nodded. “Do you want me to keep it from Nancy?”

Jonathan felt sick to his stomach at the prospect of asking Steve to lie for him. He shook his head. “No. Or, I mean, not for long. I was trying to quit before either of you found out, but honestly? Trying to hide it is more stress than it’s relieving.”

“So you’re going to tell her soon?" Steve asked.

Jonathan looked over at Steve, and he was facing over Jonathan's shoulder. Taking in the angles and curves of Steve's profile, Jonathan was overcome with both love and sorrow.

"Yeah, I will," Jonathan promised, wishing he could kiss Steve as an apology. He'd have to apologize in words to start. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I should have."

Steve nodded and sniffed a little, pushing at his nose with the sleeve of his coat. "I just… I don't want it to get as bad as it was before. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't," Jonathan insisted. Keeping his voice low, he said, "I'm yours, remember? For life."

Steve's lips curled upward in a smile and he nodded. "I remember."

"I gotta go to class," Jonathan told him, catching Steve's hand and clasping it for just a second. "Take the train home together after?"

"Yeah," Steve said, squeezing Jonathan's hand in return. "I'll see you then."

"See you," Jonathan replied, having to walk away from Steve before he did something stupid like skip class and goad Steve into going home for a different sort of stress relief.

~*~

Jake sat outside the school for only five minutes before Jim pulled up in his minivan. Jake got into the front seat, saying, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Jim replied, waiting for Jake to put his seatbelt on before pulling away from the curb. “How’d the extra tutoring go?”

“Good,” Jake told him. “Mrs. G thinks I’m almost all caught up with the rest of the class.”

“That’s great!” Jim said, reaching over and clapping Jake on the arm a couple of times. 

Feeling proud of himself, Jake grinned. It had been awhile since he’d had a stable home life, even before his mom had kicked him out. Living with the Byerses meant he didn’t have to worry about working enough that he could eat. He didn’t have to worry about finding a place to sleep. He didn’t have to worry about them finding out he was gay and kicking him out. Life was just so much _easier_ with them. He could hardly believe it. 

When they got home, Jake didn’t want to start in on the rest of his homework yet, so he went to go see what Will was up to. Will’s bedroom door was open, so Jake stuck his head in and knocked. “Hey. What’s up?”

Will was sitting at his desk, drawing something. Jake saw that El was in the room too, sitting on Will’s bed, watching him draw. She looked up at Jake and said, “Jenny saw a memory about a bad man. Will’s drawing him.”

“Why?”

“So I can find him, tell Dad where the bad man is,” El said, almost like it was obvious. There was nothing obvious about drawing a man from someone else’s memory.

Holding up the picture toward El, Will asked, “Hair look okay?”

Jake took a few steps further into the room, until he could see as well. It was fairly lifelike for a pencil drawing, looking just like your average white guy. Jake was impressed. “What did he do?”

“You don’t want to know,” Will said, a dark tone in his voice. He nodded to El, “You ready to find an address?”

Eleven nodded. She closed her eyes, setting one hand on Will’s pencil drawing. The other hand she held out toward Will, who took it easily. Then Will held his free hand out toward Jake and asked, “Wanna tag along?”

Jake shrugged. “Sure, I guess. He hopped up onto the empty part of Will’s desk and took his hand. It felt really nice to hold Will’s hand like that and Jake almost forgot to close his eyes and let Will pull him along. 

As soon as he did, Jake found himself in a cluttered apartment, watching the man from Will’s drawing watch TV.

“This is still so weird,” Jake said, sticking close to Will as he looked around. There was a small boy in the corner of the room, and he was playing with a few pieces of paper, but he was _so_ quiet about it. Jake could never remember playing quietly like that. He didn't have siblings, but Jake still remembered at least making rocket ship noises, and lightsaber noises, and car motor noises whenever he played. He remembered talking to himself a lot too. Why was this kid so quiet?

Looking up, Jake saw El walk _through_ the closed door. The scene around him dissolved and then he was outside with her, looking at the outside of the little duplex house.

Will was with them too, saying, "There's the house number. 1213. Now we just need the street."

"That way," El said, and Jake felt himself pulled along with them until all three of them were looking up at an isolated street sign. "Flint Lane."

"Okay, we've got the address," Jake said, suddenly back in his own head. He opened his eyes and looked at the others. "What do we do now? Go there?"

Will winced and looked over at El, who shook her head. "We can't… There's…"

"We made an agreement," Will explained, jotting down the address on a piece of paper. "We let the authorities take care of stuff. We keep a low profile. They let us have normal lives. A family. That's the deal."

"That sounds like a crappy deal." Jake stood up and followed when Will left the room. They went to the kitchen, where Jim was stirring something on the stove.

"Dad?" El said, holding her hand out to Will, who gave her the paper with the address without question.

"Hmm?" Jim said, turning and raising his eyebrows at the fact that all three of them were standing in the kitchen with him. "What's going on?"

Holding the piece of paper up in front of Jim's face, El told him, "There's a bad man at this address. He hurts a little boy."

"Hurts?" Jim asked, looking over to Will, who nodded. Jim looked at Jake too, and Jake barely understood what was happening, so he shrugged. "Hurts how?"

"Hits him," Will said, giving a little huff of a breath. "Molests him. It's… we gotta get that kid out of there."

Jim sighed and put a hand to his face, covering his eyes as he asked, "Just how did you get this information?"

"Jenny accidentally skimmed it from her classmate," Will explained, holding up his hand when Jim took a breath like he was going to speak. "Dad, she didn't mean to. Sometimes memories of stuff like this?"

"They jump out at you," El finished for him, giving Jim a hard look. "It's not her fault. She couldn't help seeing it."

Shaking his head, Jim said, "Fine. Fine. I'll call the cops. Not exactly sure how I can get them probable cause to go looking for evidence."

"Can't you just give them an anonymous tip?" Jake asked, really not sure how this sort of stuff was supposed to go. His mom lost custody of him for being a bigoted asshole and neglecting him, not because she physically hurt him. 

"Could do that," Jim said, scratching his fingers through his beard. "Problem is, cases like this? It's tricky sometimes the molester gets wind of the investigation, they end up killing the kid. Saw it a couple of times in New York. It's better to build enough of a case to make an arrest right off the bat."

"We could take him," El said, and Jake wasn't quite sure who she meant to take or where, but Jim's frown deepened and his brows drew down angrily.

"No! You are not judge and jury, kid," Jim told her. "You can't execute people, even if they are the worst sort of people in the world."

A cajoling tone in her voice, El asked, "Is it _really_ executing them if we just leave them in the Upside–"

"As good as!" Jim insisted. He sighed and rubbed his temples for a moment before saying. "Look, if it was a demogorgon, or someone with powers, that would be one thing. This is just some guy." Jim held up his hand when it looked like El was going to talk back to him. "Yeah, he's a bad guy, but he's a normal guy. Let the normal police and the normal justice system take care of him."

"They have one week," El said, which made Jim roll his eyes, but he nodded as well. El nodded back before saying, "Good," and leaving the room.

Will followed her, but Jake stayed back, leaning against one of the kitchen counters for a minute. Then he asked Jim, "Is she always like that?"

"Mm-hmm," he said with a nod, turning off the stove. Gesturing to the cupboard behind Jake, Jim asked him, "Start setting the table, would you?"

"Sure," Jake replied, turning and opening the cupboard, taking down six plates. "Some people would let her take out a guy like that."

"Yeah, some would," Jim agreed. "Hell, I might have even let her five years ago. But now?" Jim shook his head and poured the pasta pot into the colander sitting in the sink. "First of all, she's still a kid. You guys all are. If I wasn't trying to make her the best version of herself, I'd be failing as a father."

Heading back to the silverware drawer and opening it, Jake asked, "What's second of all?"

"Second of all," Jim said, using a spoon to unstick some of the noodles from the bottom of the pot, "I don't want the joint chiefs or CIA or whoever finding out just how scary she and Will can be together. If they start looking like too much of a liability? We're going to have to go on the run. And that's no way to live a life."

Thinking that made sense, Jake nodded. After he set out a fork for everyone and started getting down some cups, he asked, "What do the government guys know about me? I mean, _I_ don't even know what I can do."

"Not much," Jim insisted. "I did have to tell them that you potentially have some abilities, or else they weren't going to let us take care of you."

"That's great," Jake said with a sigh. "But I suppose it's better now. Better than squatting in some abandoned building, especially since it's starting to get really cold at night."

"Well," Jim said, pulling Jake into something halfway between a hug and a head-lock and shaking him around gently, "we're glad to have you, kid. Why don't you go get Jenny? You guys can wash up before dinner."

"Sure," Jake agreed, pulling himself out from under Jim's arm.

Yeah, this was a lot better than trying to fend for himself. 

~*~

Robin was at a crime scene, helping organize evidence as they pulled it out of the office building, when a familiar red car drove up. Well, this was sooner than Robin expected, but not as early as she'd hoped to see Charlie. Nodding over at Agent Williams, Robin said, "Hey, Chris? I've got something personal to take care of. I'll be back in a minute."

"Yeah, sure," Chris called after her as Robin headed across the parking lot to the car.

She wasn't surprised to see Charlie had driven herself, as the owners of the car all had class this time of day. Still, Robin appreciated the fact that Charlie hadn't waited until later. She'd tracked Robin down, all the way out here in Schaumburg. That took some energy. Some perseverance.

Charlie got out of the car before Robin got there, coming around to the front and sitting back on the hood, her hands shoved in the pockets of her leather jacket. Robin kind of hated how cool she looked. It made it harder to stay mad at her.

"Hey," Robin said, taking a few steps around Charlie until the sun wasn't in her eyes anymore. 

Charlie turned toward Robin and echoed her sadly. "Hey."

Nudging one of Charlie's boots with her shoe, Robin said, "Thanks for having Jonathan call me. I only freaked out about you _disappearing_ for a minute or two."

Charlie winced and then wrinkled up her nose. "I'm sorry," she said, sticking her hands even further into her jacket pockets. "I got overwhelmed."

Robin's stomach dropped. She'd feared it had something to do with the questions she'd been asking right before Charlie left. "I didn't mean to overwhelm you," she admitted, stepping closer and leaning on the car so she was shoulder-to-shoulder with Charlie. "I was just excited, you know? It's been almost a year. That's a big deal." Knowing Charlie had been in other relationships before, Robin looked down at her hands, wringing them together a little bit. "At least it is to me."

"It wasn't your questions," Charlie told her, a soft smile on her lips when Robin turned to look at the side of her face. "Or, it wasn't _just_ your questions. My ex left a message on my machine."

"Your ex," Robin repeated, nodding. "The ex-husband?"

"That's the one." Charlie sighed and she didn't look over at Robin, but she did grab one of Robin's hands in her own. "He's coming to Chicago. Wanted to see me."

Robin nodded and swallowed against the lump in her throat. She couldn't say that there wasn't some insecurity there. Charlie had been with her ex for several years. More than the one she'd been with Robin. What if Charlie was about to say that she wanted to go back to him? That she wanted a normal, straight relationship? And a _family_?

"Stop it," Charlie said with a scoff. "Seriously, you have nothing to worry about."

Narrowing her eyes at Charlie, because mind reading (or _emotion_ reading, whatever) was cheating, Robin asked, "Are you going to see him?"

"No," Charlie said, and Robin liked how definitively she said it. "I don't want to see him. I don't owe him anything. I just want to leave the past where it is, and focus on what's going on _now_."

Smiling over at Robin, Charlie squeezed her hand.

Robin couldn't help but smile back. "So, are we celebrating our anniversary? Or are we pretending it doesn't exist?"

Charlie looked away, shrugging. "I don't know. I mean, I got us reservations at _Bistro Jardin_ , but I can cancel them if you–"

Even though her coworkers were all just a few dozen yards away, Robin couldn't help herself. She grabbed Charlie's face in both hands and kissed her. A couple times. Finally pulling back, Charlie's face still in her hands, Robin said, "We're keeping the reservations. And you're paying. And you're driving."

Charlie laughed, covering Robin's hands with her own. "How long am I going to be in the dog house?"

Robin kissed her one more time before stepping back and saying, "Honey, that depends on what you do tonight." She waggled her brows for emphasis, which made Charlie laugh again.

"I'll see you after work, then?" Charlie called after her as Robin walked away.

Calling over her shoulder, Robin said, "Count on it."

When she got back to her post, still smiling like a silly schoolgirl, she noticed that Chris was staring at her. 

"What?" Robin asked, daring him to say something. They both knew that she could wipe the floor with him if she wanted to.

"Nothing," Chris said, shaking his head and logging the next piece of evidence. "I just…"

_Oh, man. Here it comes_.

"Your girlfriend...?" he said, and Robin figured he saw them kissing, she might as well nod and confirm it for him. "Is insanely hot! You've got to teach me your ways!"

Robin couldn't help but let loose a silly giggle. "Williams, I think you're beyond hope, even with my tutoring skills."

Chris laughed and shook his head, handing Robin the tagged evidence baggie to set in the box with the rest.

~*~

When Jenny went to school the day after Will found out, Adam wasn't in his seat. Jenny asked Mrs. Jones if she knew where Adam was, but she shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, sweetie. Maybe he's sick?"

Jenny nodded, but she couldn't stop thinking about him. During free reading time, Jenny pretended to look at her book, but she closed her eyes instead. Looking for Adam was harder than looking for her family members. El was always the brightest, the easiest to find, but the others were there, too, at the back of her mind. Adam didn't stand out. He was normal, like most of the people around Jenny. That made it hard for her to look past everyone else and find him.

But eventually, she did.

Adam was in a room with a couple of adults that Jenny didn't recognize. He was holding tightly to a stuffed bear – through him, Jenny could tell that it smelled brand new – and he was eating a bowl of chocolate ice cream. There was a knock on the door to the room, and when one of the adults opened it, Adam smiled brightly. "Grandma!" 

The older woman behind the door crouched down and put her arms around Adam, hugging him tightly. "Hello, dear."

"Am I really going to come live with you?" Adam asked her, holding on, even when she started to let go.

"Yes, of course you are," she said, kissing Adam's cheek. "Let me just speak to these nice ladies and get everything squared away before we go."

"Okay."

Adam let go of his grandmother, and Jenny let go of him. He was going to be happier now, she knew it.

~*~

Looking again at the flyer for the East Springfield High halloween dance, Jake figured he might as well put his neck out there. It was better than never knowing, right? He left his room and climbed the stairs up to the main floor of the house. From the top of the stairs he went into the back hallway and knocked softly on Will's door. It opened, but Will was across the room, sitting at his desk. Without looking up, he said, "Hey."

"Hey," Jake replied, closing the door behind him. "Can I talk to you about something?"

That got his attention. Will looked up and said, "Yeah, sure. Come on in." He gestured to the bed, so Jake went over there and sat down.

Holding up the flyer, Jake said, "Have you seen this? About the Halloween dance in a couple weeks?"

"Yeah," Will said, a hint of a smile on his face. "El and I missed it last year, but it might be fun to go."

"Do you think…" Jake gathered up his courage, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Do you think we could go together? I mean–" Shit, he was botching this, but at least Will was sitting there, giving Jake his attention, letting Jake get there on his own time. "I mean, you and me. As a–a date?"

Will's brow furrowed, and at first Jake thought he was angry Jake had asked, but his frown looked more confused than anything else. Of course he was confused. He probably thought of Jake as some know-nothing kid from the city. "A _date_?"

"No, you're right," Jake said, shaking his head. "It's too weird. Forget I ever said anything."

He started to get up, but Will caught his elbow, saying, "No, wait. I think this is my fault."

"Your fault?" Jake asked, intrigued enough to sit back down and give Will a chance to explain. 

Nodding, Will looked away from Jake as he said, "When I told you I didn't want to date girls," he met Jake's eyes, "I wasn't telling you I wanted to date guys. I don't– I don't like _anyone_ like that."

"Oh," Jake said, trying to figure out how that worked. "No one?"

Will shook his head. "I guess I'm broken or something, but…?" He shrugged. "I'm okay. You don't have to worry, or anything."

"Okay." Thinking through the conversation they'd had the week before, Jake told Will, "Well, when I told you I don't want to date girls, what I'm saying is that I'm…" Jesus, why couldn't he just say it?

"You're gay," Will said with a nod. "That's cool. I'm glad you told me." He gave Jake a smile and Jake had to remind himself that Will wasn't an option, no matter how beautiful his smile was. 

He wasn't exactly thrilled with how this had gone, but he supposed it could have gone a lot worse. Wincing, he said, "Sorry I tried to ask you out."

"Yeah, that would have been kind of weird, even if I was gay," Will said, with a little laugh that said he was joking, trying to make Jake feel better. His tone turned a little more serious as he said, "You know, Mom and Dad are going to be fine with it, if you want to tell them."

"They're not going to send me back to Chicago?" Jake asked, mostly joking, but he had a little bit of fear there too. After all, if his own mother could kick him out for being gay, what chance did he have with people who barely knew him?

"Yes, I'm sure," Will insisted, giving Jake's arm a friendly nudge. "Mom let Jonathan's boyfriend _move in with us_ when he was my age. I think you're gonna be fine."

Jake shrugged. "I don't know. Besides Jonathan and Steve, I don't know anyone who's… like me."

A mischievous smile spreading across his face, Will asked. "Do you want to?"

"Why?" Jake asked. "You know someone?"

Will got up and went to his bookcase across the room. Taking down one of the books, he came over and sat down next to Will on the bed. The book was the previous year's yearbook, and Will opened it to the "Juniors" section. "I mostly know the people in my class, but I probably know a few in yours too."

" _How_ do you know this about them?" Jake asked, watching as Will turned the pages and scanned through the faces and the names.

With a shrug, Will pointed at his head. "Psychic."

"Right." Jake laughed, wishing the psychic ability that Jake supposedly had, but hadn't discovered yet, was going to turn out to be something as useful as superpowered gaydar. If Will really wasn't interested in dating anyone, the ability was totally _wasted_ on him. Still shaking his head at this turn of events, Jake leaned closer as Will pointed at the first guy. "Okay, who's that?"

"Danny Blackburn," Will told him, "but you should probably put him pretty far down the list. I'm not even sure _he_ knows yet."

Laughing, Jake stole Will's notebook and pen off his desk and flipped to an empty page. "Okay. Let's build a list!"

~*~

Nancy was exhausted when she managed to get home; unfortunately, it was her usual state of affairs these days. Since bringing in the story about the car theft ring that Robin had helped her get, the editor at the paper, Troy, had been saddling her with a heavier and heavier load of assignments. She knew what he was doing. He was trying to break her, get her to admit that she wasn't a better reporter than him, that he _deserved_ his spot as editor. 

It was exhausting, but Nancy wasn't even close to breaking. An asshole editor was _nothing_ compared to the other challenges she'd faced in her life. She just…

She just wanted the opportunity to rest for a day. Maybe two. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

As if she'd called for him, Jonathan met Nancy at the apartment door. "Hi," he said, giving her a kiss before taking her coat and hanging it up for her. "I've got a plate for you in the microwave. It should be ready in a minute."

"Oh, my god, thank you," Nancy told him, pulling him into a hug and just _savoring_ holding him close and breathing him in. Footsteps approached from the other room, and then Steve was at Nancy's back, squishing her between him and Jonathan. With a laugh, Nancy said, "Hey, Steve."

"Hey," he said, giving her one more squeeze before letting her go.

Turning around to face him, Nancy found that Steve was dressed just in boxers and a t-shirt, and his reading glasses. "Is it that late already?" Nancy asked him, wondering if the time really had gotten away from her. 

“Nah, I just,” Steve gave Jonathan a look and chuckled. “I’m worn out, gonna go to sleep early.”

Nancy pouted as she went over to the kitchen table, where Jonathan was setting her plate down. "I was hoping to hang out with you for a little while."

Steve gave Jonathan another look before telling Nancy, "No, it's okay. I'll hang out with you in a bit. Especially if I'm still up when you come to bed." Ducking down, he gave Nancy a kiss, and squeezed her shoulder before leaving the room.

When Jonathan sat down across from her, Nancy said, "Okay. Something is going on. What is it?" She took her first bite of the pasta Jonathan had given her, watching his face as she chewed.

Clutching his hands together, resting them on the table, Jonathan sighed. "Something _is_ going on." He closed his eyes for a moment, and Nancy set her fork down. Suddenly she wasn't as hungry as she had been. "I've been having a rough time lately. Since before New York, but that just made it worse."

Reaching across the table, Nancy put her hand on Jonathan's. "Yeah, I know," she told him. "What do you need?"

"I need…" Jonathan shrugged. "I'm not sure, exactly." He shook his head and bit his bottom lip, wincing a little. 

Nancy could tell he wasn't done talking, so she watched him while he sorted through his thoughts.

Eventually, he said, "I need to tell you something, but I'm kind of scared to."

"Something bad?" Nancy asked, and she hated that the table was between them. Holding Jonathan's hand wasn't enough. She got up out of her chair and went over to him, getting him to move back from the table until she could sit in his lap and wrap her arms around him. "Don't be scared. Please, sweetie. Just talk to me."

Jonathan held her close for a few long moments before he spoke. "I started smoking in New York," he told her, eyes down on where he was fiddling with the sleeve of her sweater. "And I haven't really stopped since."

Surprised and disappointed, but carefully _not_ mad, Nancy asked, "You've been hiding it that long?"

He nodded. "I figured I would stop after I got home, but…"

God, he looked like he was in so much pain. Like before, during freshman year. Her heart hurt for him, so she squeezed him harder, pressing her face into his neck. "Thanks for telling me."

"I'm sorry I hid it. I know I can't do that shit to you guys again," Jonathan said, sounding disappointed in himself.

Figuring she knew what those looks Steve had given him earlier meant, Nancy asked, "When did Steve find out?"

"This afternoon."

Nancy nodded. "Would you have told me if Steve wasn't making you do it?"

Jonathan gave a sharp exhale, somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle. "I don't know. I kept thinking each cigarette was the last one, and I wouldn't _have_ to tell you."

"I want to know these things, Jonathan," she told him, taking his shoulder in her hand and shaking him gently. "Am I or am I not your _wife_?"

With a tiny smile at the edges of his lips, Jonathan said, "Yeah. You are."

Smiling back at Jonathan, Nancy kissed him. "So, you'll tell me next time?"

Jonathan nodded and kissed her again. "Why aren't you mad? I thought you hated smoking."

"I do," Nancy admitted, petting Jonathan's hair and squeezing the back of his neck. "And I wish you wouldn't, but I love you. I can look past one bad habit, at least for a while. I want you to be healthy, okay? So you'll be around for a long time." 

"Okay," Jonathan told her, with a nod. "I'll… work on that."

She kissed him again, and then frowned. "How the hell haven't I noticed you've been smoking?"

Jonathan grimaced, before telling her, "I've been brushing my teeth, like five times a day."

Nancy laughed. Cupping his face in her hands, she said, "If you want to keep kissing me, I think you should probably keep doing that."

"Sure," Jonathan said, kissing her back again. He gave her one more short kiss before saying, "You should eat before it gets cold."

Nancy knew he was right, but she also didn't want to let go of him. She gave Jonathan a tight hug before turning on his lap a little and reaching across the table. She pulled her plate close and brought a forkful of food to her mouth. Before she took a bite, she asked him, "Is this okay? Or do you have something else you need to be doing?"

His arms around her waist, Jonathan put his chin on Nancy's shoulder and told her, "This is more than okay. Everything else can wait."

Leaning her head against his, Nancy began eating in earnest, telling herself not to get so wrapped up in school and the paper and everything that she forgot to stop and check in with both Jonathan and Steve on a regular basis. She'd been doing better than she had freshman year, but she still… She still wanted to be better at it than she currently was. Between swallowing one bite and taking the next, Nancy squeezed Jonathan's hand and told him, "I love you."

"Love you, too," he murmured against her shoulder, making Nancy smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'd love for you to leave a comment and tell me what you thought! I have no ETA yet for the next installment of the series, but if you'd like to be notified when I post it, consider subscribing to the [Mr. Sandman series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527764).
> 
> ***Important Announcement** I am working on finishing this series so that I can rewrite it as original fic. Before I publish anything, I will be removing the works in this series from AO3. If you've enjoyed this series and want to continue rereading it, please use the AO3 download button and save a copy for yourself!
> 
> If you want to keep up-to-date with what's going on with me and my writing, you can find me [on tumblr](https://pterawaters.tumblr.com/)!


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